Liberal Mayor of Straseni Valentina Casian accuses the Liberal-Democratic councilors of making a coalition with the Communist councilors in order to impose the election of their own candidates for deputy mayor. The Lib-Dems deny the accusations, saying it is logical for them to propose their own candidate, given that they hold most of the seats on the local council. Valentina Casian has told Info-Prim Neo that the meetings of the local council have been boycotted. “The agenda included the election of deputy mayors. A coalition is formed from the very beginning and the try to impose their candidates for deputy mayor. But the law clearly says that the mayor puts forward candidates for this post,” she stated. She also said that pressure is exerted by the central authorities. “They want to promote the members of their families, the daughter of a councilor or the nephew of another councilor. I proposed an unaffiliated candidate, but they didn’t accept this person,” said the mayor, who added that decisions related to the budget cannot be taken because the councilors of the PLDM and PCRM have been boycotting the council’s meetings. Asked to comment on the created situation, the head of the Liberal-Democratic faction on the Straseni council Angela Pereu said there is no coalition. “What kind of coalition are they talking about? Is there an agreement signed? The fact that our votes coincided does not mean that there is a coalition. It is misinformation!” she stated. Angela Pereu confirmed that they promote the PLDM’s candidate for deputy mayor because the Liberal-Democratic faction holds seven seats of councilor of the 27. “The mayor proposed only one candidate, but there should be two candidates. The election of the deputy mayors has been delayed for one year and a half. We did not change our candidate. It is the same person,” she said. The vice chairman of the PLDM Valeriu Strelet said that the central authorities never exerted pressure on the local authorities of Straseni. “We consider that the inter-party relations in the local administrations of the first and second levels should be regulated first of all by the interests of the community. We discuss everything with our colleagues from Straseni as we want the deputy mayors to be finally elected. It is natural for the team from Straseni to suggest a candidate given the number of seats they hold,” he stated. As regards the alleged coalition between the PLDM and PCRM in Straseni, Valeriu Strelet said that cooperation between the councilors of the two parties is possible, as in Ialoveni, while in Cantemir there is a coalition between the PL, PCRM and PDM.